For years, the United States Postal Service has been sorting letter mail using automation equipment. The size of mail sorted on this equipment is limited to specification listed in the Domestic Mail Manual (DMM Chapter 101, pars. 1.2, 1.3) and generally meets the defined criteria, namely that the mail piece is rectangular and:
(a) not less than 5 inches long, 3½ inches high, and 0.007-inch thick;
(b) not more than 11½ inches long, or more than 6⅛ inches high, or greater than ¼-inch thick;
(c) if more than 4¼ inches high or 6 inches long, the thickness is not less than 0.009 inch;
(d) weight is not more than 3.3 ounces; and
(e) aspect ratio is from 1.3 to 2.5.
In the past, mail that was outside these specifications was sent to costly manual sorting operations. Recently, the USPS has deployed equipment which is capable of sorting mail up to 0.5 inches thick and can weigh up to 6.0 ounces. Mail which fits the increased standard is categorized as Expanded Capability (EC) mail and is sorted on a Delivery Bar Code Sorter Input/Output Sub-System (DIOSS EC) machine manufactured by Siemens Postal Automation. EC mail is sorted in a separate operation from the automation compatible mail.
At present, EC mail is only sorted to the Delivery Unit (DU). At the DU, the EC mail along with the residual manual mail is manually sorted to carrier route by a clerk, and then cased to delivery point sequence by a letter carrier. Compared to automation mail, manual mail is costly to sort. In contrast, automation compatible mail can be sorted to a finer sort depth, using multiple automated processes, to a Delivery Point Sequence (DPS) using efficient automation equipment, thus eliminating costly manual casing operations.
“Manual mail” for purposes of the invention is a relative term and depends on the nature of the automation equipment in use at a specific facility, i.e., an item is manual mail if it cannot be processed by that equipment. There are two general categories of manual mail. The first is classified as non-machinable due to its physical characteristics. Non-machinable mail includes, but is not limited to, mail that is too large, too small, too flimsy, too rigid, not rectangular in nature, unsealed bi-folds and tri-folds, loose bound edge booklets and pamphlets, loose plastic packed, and mail with items inserted within it such as pens, jewelry, coins and etc. The second category is referred to as “non readable”. This mail is typically considered mail which cannot be read by an Optical Character Reader (OCR) or video coding, or has an obscured address or bar code, or incorrect address information.
The determination of whether letter mail is sent to a manual operation, automation operation or EC operation is presently performed by a human and is subjective. The postal service pays a financial penalty for allowing a human to decide what type of mail is to be processed by which operation. First, good automation mail sometimes gets mixed with mail that is sent to the EC operation. From this point on, the automation mail is mixed with the EC mail and is sorted manually in the downstream processes. Second, good automation mail is sometimes sent to a manual operation and has to be sorted manually.
This invention provides an alternate method for distinguishing automation mail from EC and manual mail which has typically considered manual non machinable in the first category, due to its physical characteristics. The invention provides a method for identifying mail, which includes automation mail that can be processed automatically by automated machines, EC mail, which can be processed automatically using EC machines and manual mail which, due to its physical characteristics, cannot be processed by the automated machines or EC machines at the sorting facility.